M6.3 earthquake 194 km N of Bamboo Flat, India

Sunday, December 26, 2004, 10:19:31 UTC · 13.462°N, 92.738°E

A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck 194 km N of Bamboo Flat, India on Sunday, December 26, 2004, 10:19:31 UTC, at a depth of 26.4 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.5 on September 13, 2002.

Magnitude: 6.3; Strong · mwc
Depth: 26 km; Shallow
Felt reports: 0; Did You Feel It?
Est. shaking: VII; Very strong (ShakeMap)
PAGER alert: None; Not issued
Tsunami: No flag; USGS feed

Outlined circle: this earthquakeDashed circle: 100 km aftershock search area

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

43 kilotons of TNT

That is about 3 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 89 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

75 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Indian and Burma plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.

Depth: shallow

26 km

Shallow earthquakes (under 70 km) produce the strongest surface shaking for their size, so they are the ones most likely to cause damage near the epicenter.

Did You Feel It?

Where it was felt

No “Did You Feel It?” reports have been published for this event yet. If you felt it, you can add your report on the USGS website.

I felt it — report to USGS ↗

USGS PAGER estimate

Who was exposed to shaking

USGS publishes PAGER impact estimates for significant earthquakes, usually within an hour. No PAGER estimate is available for this event.

After the main event

Aftershocks within 100 km

USGS lists 93 M2.5+ earthquakes within 100 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M6.2 on December 26, 2004. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 110 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 2 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 2 recorded deaths. The most severe:

2002M6.5
Andaman Islands: Rongat, Diglipur,Ariel Bay
13 Sep 2002 · 59 km away
2 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
1941M8.0
Andaman Islands,Madras; Sri Lanka: Colombo
26 Jun 1941 · 170 km away
Extreme damage ($25M+)tsunami

NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.

Nearby trackers